Thoughts and Travels

5.18.2008 Condo to Daegu

Today, we got up in the condo.  It was terribly hot last night.  I like sleeping on the floor and that was great, but the floor was heated, and we were on feather beds.  It was so hot I couldn’t sleep for quite a while and then woke up for at least an hour during the night. 

When we all got up (right at 6:00am) we had some breakfast ? some apple yogurt, some aloe yogurt, some sort of Danish type of thing, and some coffee.  There are several things here that have aloe in them that you eat or drink.  The aloe drink is pretty sweet, but many of the people in the group really like it.

We started the day off with a trip to the top of the mountains around the city where there was a stone Buddha that was carved near 640 AD.  There were many people starting to arrive to see the Buddha.  It was a short walk to get to the actual statue, and that was really all that was there but the view was spectacular.  There were many roofing tiles that were there that people from all over the world had signed and left standing up to show to all the other travelers.  There was a small gift shop there (as there is at every temple ? sort of odd considering the religious nature of the place).  I felt a little odd about the gift shop because it seemed like going to a gift shop at the Vatican.  Just sort of sacrilegious. 

After that, the 5 of us went to a temple where there were monks that were chanting.  There were many buildings there, and MANY people.  Once again, there were people there that were dressed like they were going to scale Mt. Everest but were just walking a couple blocks. 

After that, we went to a lake that was built 1200 years ago and filled by aqueduct.  There was also a menagerie of animals put together on the island. There was a small museum of items that were found at the area when people started to make the area into a tourist spot.  Many bones from animals, many items like spear tips, etc.

Then, we went to Daegu and had lunch at Pizza Hut with Dr. Moon, Her friend, and her daughter.  There was a bit of difference between the SK pizza hut and the US version.  The pizzas were much lighter and less greasy than the US versions. We got salad bar too.

After this, we went back to the hotel where Dick and Mike worked on their talks for tomorrows symposium and we looked up information on China’s earthquake.  We wanted to see if there were any updates on aftershocks to the region that we would be going to.  It seems like we might have to change our itinerary due to possible concern about the dams on the Yangzee.  Other than that, I think we’re still a complete go for travel through China.

We went to supper with Dr. Heon-Ho Lee and his family at a very nice Italian restaurant.  Dr. Lee will be in the US next year for a year. We had a several-course meal with some nice steaks, and chocolate Mousse at the end.

After that, it was back to the Hotel to repack things, determine what to send home (if I get the chance) and to pack things up for laundry service tomorrow. Then talked to Mom and Erin for quite a while on Skype.